A five-year-old steam engine enthusiast has pulled his sock up to help restore a royal train carriage.

For young Owen Jones the Talyllyn Railway is in the blood.

His grandfather, Gareth, is a volunteer driver on the railway was well as being a member of the Railway Company’s Board, while his father, Neil, is a volunteer fireman so it is not surprising that Owen is a fan of the railway.

When Owen heard about the railway’s appeal to raise £20,000 towards restoring the railway’s ex-Corris Railway Coach No.17, he searched the house and gathered up all the loose change he could find into an old sock and asked his grandfather to hand it in for the fund.

Dutiful grandfather Gareth, handed the sock over to the railway’s general manager, Stuart Williams, and when the money was counted 83p was added to the appeal.

Stuart Williams said: “So far we have raised over £4,000 towards the restoration of carriage No.17 in just over a month, but we still have a long way to go so ever penny counts.

“We are very grateful to Owen for his contribution. If every visitor to the railway gave us 83p we’d very quickly reach our target.

“Thank you Owen, and the Jones family for your support.”

Talyllyn Carriage No.17 is the only operable original coach from the original Corris Railway, having been built for the line in 1898.

Sold after the passenger service ended in 1930 the body was rescued in a derelict condition from a back garden by Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society members in the 1950s and restored to its former glory, entering Talyllyn service in 1961.

The coach is very popular and often used for wedding trains.

It is also a royal carriage having conveyed Princess Diana on a visit she and Prince Charles made to the Railway in November 1982.

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